What is Mobile Threat Defense?
Employees are increasingly working on mobile devices, so organizations must safeguard sensitive enterprise data from cyber threats that exploit mobile users, apps and devices. Organizations have deployed mobile device management (MDM) and mobile app management (MAM) solutions to support mobile users, but often mistakenly believe these management tools are sufficient to protect them from cyber threats.
Why your organization needs Mobile Threat Defense even with MDM
MDM and MAM lack insight into app characteristics, and cannot provide detection or protection against cyber threats and user behaviors. Rather, these management tools are for administration to set baseline management profiles for mobile devices and apps used within an organization. MDM and MAM lack the ability to dynamically react to mobile cybersecurity threats, and provide continuous visibility of device health and trust.
Only MTD, with or without the use of MDM, can detect and block mobile cybersecurity threats from harming an organization.
Mobile Threat Defense protects organizations and their users from threats on iOS and Android devices:
As organizations and employees are increasingly dependent on mobile devices, these endpoints become key targets for malicious actors.
Gartner states, “The MTD solution market consists of solutions that protect organizations from threats on iOS and Android devices.
Market Description
MTD solutions protect at the device, network and application levels:
- On the device level, MTD tools monitor indicators such as OS versions, security update versions, system parameters, device configuration, firmware and system libraries to identify security misconfigurations, device vulnerabilities and suspicious or malicious activity. MTD tools check for modification of system libraries and configuration, as well as for privilege escalation (such as jailbreak or rooting).
- On the network level, MTD tools monitor cellular and wireless network traffic for unsanctioned, suspicious or malicious behavior. MTD tools can check for invalid or spoofed certificates, and for stripping of Transport Layer Security (TLS) or Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), and can perform a variety of other customized man-in-the-middle detection techniques. For example, an MTD solution could identify bidding-down attacks from a malicious network, where the encryption algorithm negotiated is intentionally weak to allow for eavesdropping.
- On the application level, MTD tools identify grayware (see Note 2) and malware through application sandboxing and code analysis. MTD application security techniques include signature-based anti-malware filtering, code emulation or simulation, application reverse engineering, and static and dynamic app security testing.”
(1) Gartner, Inc. “Market Guide for Mobile Threat Defense” by Dionisio Zumerle, John Girard, October 30, 2018.
Read this report to get an in-depth look at how Gartner defines the space.
Why customers use Lookout for Mobile Threat Defense
Increased security and visibility
“A leader in its field. The application was very easy to deploy and in the short time it was implemented it already paid for itself by alerting us of potential cyber security risks which might have otherwise gone undetected. From users' perspective it works silently in the background with no interference and very low battery usage.”
Senior Program Manager, Digital, in the Government Industry
“Best tool which covers all the security issues addressed for the mobile devices.. overall experience is good. The best part is protection against Phishing , content filtering and VPN”
Lead mobile and devices in the Manufacturing Industry, Infrastructure & Operations
“The product is easy to set up, and it is truly a "set it and forget it" solution. It will alert you if it detects a problem.”
A VP, IT Security Director, Finance, Security & Risk Management
Easy deployment and integration
"This was one of the easiest deployments I have ever done. Further, their integration with [Microsoft's] O365 security stack complements perfectly and aligns with some of our other cybersecurity enhancements."
Chief Information Security Officer in the Services Industry, Security & Risk Management
“Lookout has provided excellent support and answered all possible questions almost immediately. The product is simple and efficient, requiring little effort on our part to maintain it. The client app remains mostly invisible to the user unless action is required. The user experience is above most other mobility apps, as even the less tech-savvy users don't often require help with it. “
Systems Analyst in the Finance Industry
“Most of our initial configuration and deployment was handled by the Lookout team. Since then, we've encountered very few issues and, when we have, Lookout's support team has been very responsive. We integrate Lookout with AAD/Intune and the management experience has been painless."
Chief Information Officer in the Healthcare Industry
Why Lookout is a leader in Mobile Threat Management
The size of the individual vendor markers in the IDC MarketScape represents the market share of each individual vendor within the specific market segment being assessed. Positioning on the y-axis reflects the vendor's current capabilities and menu of services and how well aligned the vendor is to customer needs. Positioning on the x-axis, or strategies axis, indicates how well the vendor's future strategy aligns with what customers will require in three to five years.
(1) IDC, Inc. “IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Mobile Threat Management Software 2018–2019 Vendor Assessment” Doc #US45521018, December 2018
- "In addition to discovering over a thousand malicious apps on public app stores, and thousands per day from other sources, Lookout researches and AI have discovered vulnerabilities in watchOS, tvOS, Mac OS, Safari/Mobile Safari, WebKit, Google Glass, and Bluetooth stacks.
- Lookout has a strong console and administrative functionality, where it can display risky behavior of devices and apps across an entire network of devices. This allows IT to create and deploy controls for these scenarios, including granular levels of inspection and enforcement, such as app-level data handling that might violate policies or desired endpoint behaviors.
- Lookout has very strong go-to-market partnerships with over 15 carriers in the United States, Europe, and Asia/Pacific. It also integrates with more than a dozen SIEM and EMM products, which are increasingly critical enterprise platforms for mobile security and management. Close adherence to standards, such as REST API model and the AppConfig standard for mobile management functions, contributes to this."
Read this excerpt to get an in-depth look at the how IDC MarketScape defines the space.
Why Lookout is a leader in Mobile Application Security Testing
- "Lookout's use of telemetry to inform AI engine ongoing mobile security risks brings a unique level of app risk knowledge to the company's MAST and other Mobile Endpoint Security capabilities. Lookout's distribution partnerships with many of the world's largest mobile network operators, including AT&T, Verizon, Vodafone, T-Mobile, Sprint, Orange, EE, Deutsche Telekom, KDDI, and NTT DOCOMO, contribute to the vendor's growing base of Android and iOS mobile device and app security knowledge. This growing base of knowledge feeds the Lookout AI engine and includes the growing knowledge set from MAST deployments and use among Global 2000 Enterprises and SMBs in the Americas, EMEA, and APAC regions.
- Lookout's console and administrative functionality complements the vendor's MDM integrations, making it possible for Android-using organizations with and without EMM software and iOS-using organizations with MDM software to implement mitigations to mobile app security risks, such as blacklisting of apps and end-user warning notifications. For organizations that decide to blacklist an app that violates a policy in the Lookout system, Lookout informs EMM and SIEM/analytics systems of that event through integrations it has."
Read this excerpt to get an in-depth look at the how IDC MarketScape defines the space.
The size of the individual vendor markers in the IDC MarketScape represents the market share of each individual vendor within the specific market segment being assessed. Positioning on the y-axis reflects the vendor's current capabilities and menu of services and how well aligned the vendor is to customer needs. Positioning on the x-axis, or strategies axis, indicates how well the vendor's future strategy aligns with what customers will require in three to five years
(1) IDC, Inc. “IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Mobile App Security Testing 2019 Vendor Assessment — InfoSec Emphasis", Doc #US45459219, September 2019
Find out more about Lookout Mobile Endpoint Security today
Lookout Mobile Endpoint Security is a mobile security solution that provides comprehensive risk management across iOS and Android devices to secure against app, device, and network-based threats while providing visibility and control over data leakage.
Reach us anytime and see what Lookout can do for you.
Gartner, Market Guide for Mobile Threat Defense, Dionisio Zumerle, John Girard, 30 October 2018
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